ROK-UK Smart Clinical Trials Collaboration Award

Funding available for partners in the UK and Republic of Korea to develop collaborative relationships that improve the speed, accuracy, efficiency and inclusiveness of clinical trials.

Established in 2006 and primarily funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds health and care research in the UK.

NIHR is working in partnership with Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) to deliver the ROK-UK Smart Clinical Trials Collaboration Award. The award supports researchers from the UK and the Republic of Korea (ROK) to develop collaborative relationships. These collaborative relationships will then enable research that improves the speed, accuracy, efficiency and inclusiveness of clinical trials. The scheme aims are to:

• Enhance collaboration and understanding.
• Share knowledge and build capacity.
• Develop foundational outputs for long-term collaboration.
• Strengthen stakeholder engagement.

‘Smart’ clinical trials are clinical trials that leverage innovative tools, technologies and methodologies to enhance efficiency, accuracy and inclusiveness in clinical research. The primary goal is to improve comparative efficacy and effectiveness evaluations, thereby accelerating the development and delivery of health interventions. Eligible study areas include trial design, patient recruitment, patient communication and retention, and data analysis and insights generation. Areas that may advance smart clinical trials include:

• Technological innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI)
• Wearables and Internet of Things
• Decentralised and virtual trials
• Data integration and analytics
• Digital platforms and communication tools

Through the scheme, participants will undertake placements, workshops and joint ROK-UK projects. Through these activities, UK and ROK based researchers will share expertise, knowledge and skills, and increase understanding of each country’s health systems, regulatory environments and research infrastructure. The foundations will be built for long-term research collaborations to enable collaborative applications to future joint ROK-UK funding opportunities.

All proposed activities under the scheme must align with the NIHR remit and work towards advancing interventions, technologies or methodologies that have achieved at least Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4.